First Impressions

At first glance, Metabol Tonics look like every other supplement on the market. They provide common ingredients of differing values and benefits but there seems to be very little differentiating this product from others on the market.

Metabol Tonics are an example of a supplement whose defining characteristic is mediocrity. It is a middle of the road supplement that has some benefits to at-risk groups like diabetics and those with deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals.

That might seem noble, and we support the attenuation of deficiency and health problems, but this isn’t how they’re marketed. If the marketing for this product targeted these groups we’d have more time for it, but the bar it sets for itself as a weight loss supplement is unattainably high.

What is it?

Metabol Tonics are marketed as a weight loss supplement with a number of active effects:

Improving satiety

Controlling hunger

Weight loss

Fat metabolism

These are common claims on the market, but they break down to two simple claims: Reducing hunger and increasing the rate of fat loss. This means that it has to reduce the feelings of hunger and increase the number of calories burned in a day.

There are 4 active ingredients with which Metabol claims to be able to do this. These are

Chromium

Garcinia Cambogia

Raspberry Ketones

Vitamin D

We’re going to discuss these ingredients individually so that we can break down the kind of effects and results that you can expect.

Chromium

Chromium is an essential mineral that is involved in the way that your body processes and stores carbohydrates. This process is a key part of determining whether you gain fat or not, so you might be forgiven for thinking that chromium levels would help fat loss.

In reality, the scientific research points to chromium being conditionally effective at helping glucose metabolism [1]. This means that it is going to be helpful for certain populations and situations, but is not going to drive improved metabolism or weight loss for everyone.

For chromium to be effective, you have to be in one of 2 categories:

Be diabetic, or

Be deficient in chromium

If you’re in either of these groups you’re likely to see some benefits. Addressing deficiency in any vitamin or mineral will improve your health and wellbeing, and chromium deficiency has been shown to inhibit fat loss. Keeping your levels in the right place is key to losing weight, but this deficiency is uncommon.

Diabetics are already likely to be struggling with weight due to the interactions between obesity and insulin – it’s a vicious cycle. However, scientific research suggests that diabetics can increase their insulin sensitivity and weight management by supplementing chromium [2].

Chromium is an important mineral but for the majority of the healthy population, it’s not going to do much. If you’re in one of these two at-risk groups, however, this supplement is a great way of getting your chromium in.

Garcinia Cambogia

We’ve discussed this ingredient at length, but in this product, it forms a sort of “filler” and another way of marketing the product. Despite continued scientific evidence that garcinia has no positive effects on fat loss, it has remained popular and the inclusion still carries weight on the market!

Garcinia’s effects on animals have been widely discussed, with positive effects on a number of health markers, but studies have shown that these benefits are restricted to animals, with no comparable human benefits [3].

Raspberry Ketones

Raspberry ketones suffer from the same problem: initial animal tests were promising but the dosage and effects weren’t able to be reproduced in humans. To even come close to the same dosage, you’d be required to eat nearly a kilogram per day [4] – Metabol Tonics don’t include quite that much!

Raspberry ketone and garcinia cambogia are relatively similar in this sense. They both provide ostensibly-effective ingredients that are very popular and faddish, without any of the carryovers to human trials. The inclusion of these products is more effective as a marketing ploy than a dietary supplement and they don’t’ add much to the overall benefits.

Vitamin D

We’re huge fans of vitamin D: it is one of the very few supplements that everyone should be taking: it is the most commonly-deficient vitamin and it is associated with a wide variety of health benefits [5]. While weight loss isn’t primary among these benefits, improvements across the board are likely to improve weight loss outcomes through metabolism and energy efficiency.

Any supplement that provides additional vitamin D is immediately validated to some extent in our estimations: your health and wellness will improve from this compound alone. The real question is how this stacks up to competitors: vitamin D supplements are commonly-available at a lower price than Metabol tonics.

However, as a weight loss supplement, vitamin D underperforms when compared to other compounds and the low dosage in Metabol tonics isn’t as effective as pure vitamin D supplements.

Does it work?

This depends on what you’re expecting from the product and to what degree. There’s a possibility that this product will aid your weight loss journey if you’re diabetic or chromium-deficient, and the concentration of vitamin D may slightly increase weight loss.

Overall, it makes for a relatively good antioxidant and vitamin D supplement, but Metabol Tonics falls short of industry standards for weight loss. Claims to improve satiety rely on garcinia cambogia and raspberry ketones but, unless you’re a lab rat, you’re not going to experience these benefits.

Metabol claims that these effects are best experienced in combination “with a healthy diet and exercise”. The problem with this is that it provides confirmation bias: if you’re on a healthy diet and exercise regularly, you’re going to succeed in weight loss with or without this supplement!

Practical Stuff and Concerns

The practicalities of this product are a problem: at the recommended dose of 3 pills per day, we run into two issues, namely over-consumption of vitamin D and short-supply of product.

A single bottle, on this use scheme, lasts for less than 3 weeks. This requires you to refresh your purchase every 3 weeks to gain the same, slim, benefits that Metabol provides. This makes supplementation a costly affair.

Additionally, on this dosage you’ll find yourself consuming 400% of your RDA for vitamin D. While there are often poor absorption rates with this vitamin, it seems that this might be excessive. 400% is an unusually large dose and extended supplementation at these levels can have negative effects. We would recommend time off between bottles, just in case.

Another logistical problem you’ll find with Metabol Tonics is that, while once sold at Walgreens, is no longer available. We’ve scoured the web but either it’s coincidentally sold out everywhere or it has been taken off the market. If you really want this product, for some reason, it’s going to take some digging.

Closing Remarks

This is a fairly innocuous supplement: it has benefits to certain populations but it is outperformed by other supplements in important areas like weight loss and vitamin D concentration. Raspberry ketone and garcinia cambogia are mostly useless, so there’s a lot of “filler” in this product.

The inclusion of Chromium is a great choice for certain groups, but the marketing doesn’t discuss these applications. This is an example of the poor utilization of science to push marketing, rather than discussing the real uses and benefits of key ingredients.

Emily has spent the last 8 years comparing, reviewing and analyzing ingredients in the supplements industry. She has worked extensively with dieticians, nutritionists and personal trainers to separate fact from fiction and help people achieve their fitness goals. In her free time she works and enjoys the outdoors with her husband and 2 children. You can contact her via the "About Us" page.

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